Here's a challenge for problem solvers! I have a pullet with Marek's (according to the vet). She has been falling over on her side and her back and off the roost since sometime in October. It finally got to the point where we could no longer leave her with the other two chickens because the alpha hen would attack her when she was on her back. She is a sweet girl and except for falling over, everything else is fine and we are not at all ready to euthanize her.
Here's the background: I've been racking my brain trying to figure out how to help her... I've looked at photos of slings, but wanted her to be able to move around. Last weekend I looked up chicken walkers, "therapy chairs" etc. But I didn't get around to building one. I thought there had to be something simpler that I could do... and the idea of outriggers popped into my head - maybe if she had something sticking out on each side, it wouldn't let her fall over... not ideal, but worth a try. So I put a small dog harness on her and put foam tubing through the bottom from one side to the other... but it wasn't really working in front of her legs, so I put it behind her legs. It seemed a little better, but I soon noticed she was too heavy and was sort of falling backwards. So I decided I should add some weight up front. The first thing that came to mind were some heavy hematite magnets that I just bought over Christmas, it would be a quick way to find out if that would help as I could put one on the inside of the harness and one on the outside and not have to sew or attach anything else to the harness. Well.... it really helped her! She was falling a LOT less! She can go for hours without falling over (indoors), instead of falling over every 15 minutes. In fact, I decided the outrigger foam wasn't helping so I removed it and she has been wearing the magnets during the day for the last 3 days. Tomorrow I plan to check her outside... still under complete supervision as I wouldn't want her harness to get snagged by something.
So here's the help I need:
- Although I could be wrong, I don't really think it's the magnets, I think it's their extra weight - as she is a very light chicken to begin with. But among other things, I do worry about having these strong magnets right by her heart (does anyone know if that's a problem?)
So I want to ditch the magnets but want some ideas on what to use that would be heavy enough and how to attach whatever it is, so that it doesn't bother her too much. The harness is pretty good, but it does restrict her preening a little bit and it's also a bit too large for her, it starts to sag a bit in front where the magnets are and her toes can get stuck there. Another time, she got sort of stuck to the metal floor vent due to the magnets!!
So here's my brainstorming...
- lead comes to mind as being heavy, but I don't even know what form I might be able to get it in, and I'd have to be careful about the toxicity. So maybe fishing sinkers/weights? Do they still make those out of lead? Then I thought of a little vest with a pocket I could fill with lead shot, sewn really well so no one could accidentally ingest one... I also thought of sewing metal washers onto the bottom of the vest...
- Finally, I'm not thrilled to have her in a harness - does anyone have a better idea?
Thanks in advance!
Here's the background: I've been racking my brain trying to figure out how to help her... I've looked at photos of slings, but wanted her to be able to move around. Last weekend I looked up chicken walkers, "therapy chairs" etc. But I didn't get around to building one. I thought there had to be something simpler that I could do... and the idea of outriggers popped into my head - maybe if she had something sticking out on each side, it wouldn't let her fall over... not ideal, but worth a try. So I put a small dog harness on her and put foam tubing through the bottom from one side to the other... but it wasn't really working in front of her legs, so I put it behind her legs. It seemed a little better, but I soon noticed she was too heavy and was sort of falling backwards. So I decided I should add some weight up front. The first thing that came to mind were some heavy hematite magnets that I just bought over Christmas, it would be a quick way to find out if that would help as I could put one on the inside of the harness and one on the outside and not have to sew or attach anything else to the harness. Well.... it really helped her! She was falling a LOT less! She can go for hours without falling over (indoors), instead of falling over every 15 minutes. In fact, I decided the outrigger foam wasn't helping so I removed it and she has been wearing the magnets during the day for the last 3 days. Tomorrow I plan to check her outside... still under complete supervision as I wouldn't want her harness to get snagged by something.
So here's the help I need:
- Although I could be wrong, I don't really think it's the magnets, I think it's their extra weight - as she is a very light chicken to begin with. But among other things, I do worry about having these strong magnets right by her heart (does anyone know if that's a problem?)
So I want to ditch the magnets but want some ideas on what to use that would be heavy enough and how to attach whatever it is, so that it doesn't bother her too much. The harness is pretty good, but it does restrict her preening a little bit and it's also a bit too large for her, it starts to sag a bit in front where the magnets are and her toes can get stuck there. Another time, she got sort of stuck to the metal floor vent due to the magnets!!
So here's my brainstorming...
- lead comes to mind as being heavy, but I don't even know what form I might be able to get it in, and I'd have to be careful about the toxicity. So maybe fishing sinkers/weights? Do they still make those out of lead? Then I thought of a little vest with a pocket I could fill with lead shot, sewn really well so no one could accidentally ingest one... I also thought of sewing metal washers onto the bottom of the vest...
- Finally, I'm not thrilled to have her in a harness - does anyone have a better idea?
Thanks in advance!
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